Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 2.1 times more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.6% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 22.7% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 3.6 times more in Laos
Housing: pay 3.6 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 3.5 times more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.7% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 31.4% more in Laos

The cost of housing, transportation, childcare, clothing, and groceries in Laos are more expensive than in Malawi. Expenses including restaurants and entertainment and sports are lower in Laos. Notably, housing, transportation, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Laos.

Laos vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 29.6% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.32 MWK7,478.87	$1.90 LAK41,017	-56.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.04 MWK15,650.77	$4.20 LAK90,903	-53.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 MWK1,508.85	$0.69 LAK14,927	-20.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 MWK749.10	$0.49 LAK10,498	+12.2%
Average			-29.6%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.7% more for groceries

	Malawi	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.36 MWK2,361.80	$1.00 LAK21,671	-26.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 MWK8,338.52	$13.03 LAK281,741	+170.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.51 MWK7,810.86	$6.40 LAK138,380	+41.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK3,991.42	$2.06 LAK44,642	-10.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MWK3,332.45	$2.07 LAK44,756	+7.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,790.71	$0.75 LAK16,109	-28.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,401.15	$0.74 LAK16,038	-8.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 MWK1,935.99	$0.96 LAK20,697	-14.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK912.20	$1.29 LAK27,873	+144.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 MWK1,245.43	$0.70 LAK15,027	-3.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,014.58	$0.45 LAK9,774	-22.9%
Average			+22.7%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.6 times more for transportation

	Malawi	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.19 MWK10,708.52	$4.61 LAK99,570	-25.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,478.61	$53.85 LAK1,164,259	+1146.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,669.17 MWK61,721,248.60	$28,167.89 LAK608,973,239	-21.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.40 MWK35,303.82	$10.57 LAK228,594	-48.2%
Average			+262.8%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.6 times more for housing

	Malawi	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$186.12 MWK322,066.85	$8.98 LAK194,218	-95.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$202.19 MWK349,858.70	$993.83 LAK21,485,977	+391.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$98.76 MWK170,897.44	$809.30 LAK17,496,669	+719.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.29 MWK71,440.38	$58.85 LAK1,272,205	+42.5%
Average			+264.6%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 3.5 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.75 MWK613,859.39	$291.32 LAK6,298,267	-17.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,467.81 MWK2,539,870.55	$9,140.14 LAK197,604,555	+522.7%
Average			+252.4%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 MWK1,937.04	$1.11 LAK23,910	-1.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MWK5,040.47	$1.62 LAK35,002	-44.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,745.31	$1.78 LAK38,578	+12.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.33 MWK88,825.87	$66.31 LAK1,433,622	+29.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,835.97	$2.97 LAK64,252	-24.8%
Average			-5.7%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.4% more for clothing

	Malawi	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.22 MWK78,254.76	$78.60 LAK1,699,248	+73.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.94 MWK60,464.70	$61.45 LAK1,328,452	+75.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.17 MWK102,389.24	$65.22 LAK1,410,006	+10.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.71 MWK122,346.81	$46.67 LAK1,008,978	-34.0%
Average			+31.4%

Malawi vs. Laos - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2025

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